Terrible sound when starting my Jeep Grand Cherokee

My jeep keeps dying and making an awful sound when I start it. It's a loud grinding sound. The car will start easily about 3 times over the course of a couple hours after it's been jumped and then stop starting all together. I think it may be the alternator, but I am not sure. Can you please give me a place to start?

Thank you,

Malia

9 Answers

Other than the bad battery and possible alternator causing the dying and having to jump it off and maybe battery terminals bad too, the last time I heard that a auto was making a awful grinding noise when starting it was a starter to flywheel issue with bad teeth either on the flywheel or the starter or starter not disengaging which will destroy the teeth on both. Stop trying to start this Jeep and get it professionally diagnosed.

It starts and stays running about 3 times. Over the next couple hours I will periodically start it and it will crank, but not start. Eventually it doesn't crank and completely stops starting all together.

An awful sounds is where you need to start. Once you have it
started, have someone inspect the engine bay with the hood up to
determine where the sound is coming from. I suspect it might be in
the serpentine belt area putting a draw on your engine draining the
battery and effecting the alternator. Also have the battery tested after
the fix, it might need replacing or a good charge.

Thank you for your answers. I'm going to check to see if there is resistance when I spin the idle pulley. I'm trying to narrow down what the problem might be before taking it to a mechanic. I don't want to get charged an outrageous diagnosis fee. Do you think getting a volt meter would help identify whether it's the battery or an alternator problem?

OF course, if you have a Harbor Freight tools in your area, you can
get a voltmeter for $6 or borrow a friends. 12.3V engine off,
around14V with engine on. Most batters last 4-6 years. If your is
older, than 6 years, a good time to replace.

Okay, thanks a lot Tom. I believe there is a stick on the battery that says 7/16 so maybe I should look into replacing it soon. I do worry a bit about the connection on the negative side of the battery. It wiggles just a tiny bit even after I tighten it. I will look into getting a volt meter.

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